Work-holder for slicing-machines.



E. M. STILES.

WOR'K HOLDER FOR SLICING MACHINES.

APPUCATION FILED MAR. 4. 1918.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 WITNESS wk;

A TTORNEYG E. M. STILES.

WORK HOLDER FOR SLICING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4; 1918.

1394,5618 Y Patented Feb. 18,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTQR/VETG EDWARD M. STILES, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO U. S. SLICING MACHINE COMPANY, OF LAPORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

Application filed March 4, 1918. Serial No. 220,125.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD M. S'rrLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Work-Holders for Slicing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for holding material while it is being sliced by a slicing machine of usual construction, and has for its object the provision of a device of the class named which shall be of improved construction and operation.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a slicing machine having a device embodying one form of the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the work holder shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on line 33 of Fig 1.

Fig 4 is a vertical sectional view on line H of Fig. 3.

Fig 5 is a rear elevation of a slightly modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 5. a

In the machine partially shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the base or frame of the machine, which is provided with the usual rotary slicing knife 11 and the reciprocating table 12, which travels on guides 13, which is moved by a pitman 1 1 in a manner well known in the art. The reciprocating table 12 carries uprights 15, such as are commonly employed for attachment of a clamping bar for holding the work to be sliced. By the present invention the applicant is enabled to more completely slice a piece of meat, or other material, than is possible with a simple clamping bar, such as is used to bear down upon the upper surface of the meat intermediate its ends. To accomplish this result a frame is supported by hooks 16 and 17 between the uprights 15 and comprises upper and lower horizontal bars 18 and 19, respectively, and end bars 20. A front plate 21 covers the front face of the frame and is held in place by screws 22 passing through the plate into the frame bars. The plate 21 is provided with a number of short horizontal slots 23 spaced over the entire face of the plate, and also with a series of longer vertical slots 24. In the rear of the plate 21 is a second plate 25 provided with ribs 26 at its upper and lower edges which are arranged to slide in notches 27 in the frame bars 18 and 19. The plate 25 has rigidly fastened thereto a series of laterally inclined prongs or teeth 28 which project forwardly through the slots 23 which are of sufficient length, as shown in Fig. 3, to permit lateral movement of the teeth in the slots when the plate 25 is slid laterally in its guideway 27. Mounted to slide vertically in upright grooves 29 in the bars 20 is a horizontally extending bar 30 provided with a rearwardly extending handle 31 by which it may be moved up and down in its guiding slots. The bar 30 carries a series of forwardly projecting pins 32 which pass through upright slots 33 in the plate 25 and through the slots 24 in the front plate 21. The pins 32 have downwardly extending elongated portions 34 which constitute tines for impaling the article to be held in a manner that will be more fully explained. Adjacent the bar 30, the pins 32 are Provided with enlarged portions 35 which fit between the sides of the upright grooves 33, which grooves at their upper ends are inclined laterally, as shown at 36. A spring-pressed friction plug 37 may be inserted in the bar 18 to bear upon the upper surface of the plate 25 to hold the plate against accidental sliding movement in its grooves. A handle 38 is secured to the upper portion of the frame for convenience in manipulation.

In the operation of the device a piece of meat, or other material to be sliced indicated by broken lines at 10 in Fig. 4 of the drawings, is pressed against the front face of the plate 21 while the handle 31 and the bar 30 are in their uppermost position. At this time the plate 25 will be in the position shown in Fig. 3, and the enlarged portions 35 of the pins 32 will be in the upper ends of the inclined portions 36 of the upright grooves 33 in the plate 25. While the material 40 is held against the front face of the work holder, the handle 31 will be pressed downwardly forcing the portions plate 21. After the portions 35 of the pins 32 have left the inclined portions 36 of the grooves 33 they will enter the vertical portions of these grooves and hold the plate 25 in its lateral position during further downward movement of the bar 30. This further downward movement will cause the tines 34: to impale the meat 40 and thus secure the meat against any possibility of escape from the teeth 28, for the reason that they will hold the meat against lateral movement; It should be noted also that the teeth 28 are inclined toward the slicing knife 30 so that during the slicing opera tion the pressure of the knife will tend to force the meat, or other material being sliced more tightly into position upon the teeth, and against the plate 21. The elongated tines 3a are of a special value in connection with the forwardly projecting teeth 28 for holding a piece of meat by the portion at the end of the piece which is commonly discarded.- If forwardly projecting teeth alone were employed it would be necessary to provide an evenly cut surface in order to secure sufliciently firm, hold to resist the action of the slicing knife. lVhere forwardly projecting teeth 28 are used in conjunction with an elongated impalement pin, like that shown at 34, the uncut end of a piece of meat like the small end of a boiled ham, or the untrimmed end of a piece of bacon may be secured against the plate 2 1 with sufficient firmness to hold it during the slicing operation. Because of the uneven character of the surface held it will ordinarily not be possible for a very large number of the teeth 28 to secure a hold upon the piece of meat, but a sufficient number of the teeth will find a purchase upon the meat to cooperate with the impalement '34, so that the two sets of holders operating in conjunction with one another will sew the meat, so to speak, against the front plate of the work holder and give a firm support for resisting the pressure of the slicing knife. In this way only the waste end of the meat is engaged by the work holder, and the edible portion of the meat will be entirely sliced.

When the meat has all been sliced, the bar 30 will be raised to free the tines 34 from the end by which the meat is gripped, and when lifted toits uppermost position, the bar will be retained in this position by the inclined portions 36 of the upright slots in plate 25. The friction detent 37 is for the purpose of preventing,lateralmovement of the plate 25 so that the plate and bar 30 will be retained in proper position to receive the next article to be sliced. If for any reason the operator does not lift the bar to its uppermost position, he will be made aware of this condition because of the fact that the bar will not remain in an intermediate position in which the pins 32 extend through the horizontal portions of the slot 33. If at any time the bar is permitted to drop it will be arrested by the lower ends of the slots 33 before the ends of the tines 34 strike the upper surface of the table 12.

In the form of invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the bent slots 33 are replaced by rectangular openings 41 of sufficient width to permit lateral movement of the plate 25 independently of the vertical position of the bar 30. In this construction a handle i2 is provided for sliding the late 25 laterally, and this movement may e performed at any time independently of the bar 30. It will be apparent also that the plate 25 will not be held against lateral sliding movement by the pins 32, and for this reason it may be desirable, when this form is used, to provide both upper and lower friction plugs 37 and toform slight depressions in the edges of the plate 25 in position to engage the pins 37 when the plate 25 has been slid to its extreme work-holding posi tion. In this form also detents 42 may be provided in the ends of the bar 30 to hold the bar 30 in any vertical position to which it may be moved,

I claim 1. A work holder for slicing machines comprising pins arrangedto enter a face of material to be sliced and to extend obliquely of said face to grip said material, and impalement pins arranged to enter said materlal at a position spaced from said face and to extend in a direction substantially parallel to said face,

2. A work holder for slicing machines comprising a plate, teeth projecting from said plate at an angle thereto, and impalement pins positioned in front of said plate and spaced therefrom and movable in a direction substantially parallel with said plate to enter material and to cooperate with said teeth to hold said material against said plate.

3. In combination with a slicing knife and a work holder movable relative thereto, of

teeth on said holder for engaging material to be sliced, said teeth being inclined to point in the direction of movement of said material toward said knife so that the pressure exerted by said knife upon said material will tend to force said material upon said teeth,

and elongated pins arranged to enter said material at an angle to the direction of said teeth and to cooperate with said teeth for holding said material during the slicing operation said elongated pins being of sufficient length to lie opposite and cooperate with a plurality of said inclined teeth.

4:- In combination with a slicing knife, of a Work holder therefor movable relative thereto, said holder comprising a plate having teeth projecting at an oblique angle thereto and pointing in the direction of movement of said holder toward said knife so that the pressure of said knife upon the material held by said teeth Will tend to force the material onto said teeth and against said plate, and elongated tines extending substantially parallel with said plate and spaced slightly therefrom, said tines being movable in a direction transverse to the direction of inclination of said teeth to enter material held by said teeth and to cooperate with said teeth to hold said material against said plate during the slicing operation.

5. A work holder for slicing machines comprising a plate, teeth projecting there from at an oblique angle thereto, means for moving said teeth relative to said plate to cause said teeth to enter material to be sliced, elongated tines for entering said material, and means for moving said tines in a direction transverse to the movement of said teeth to cause said tines to enter said material.

6. In combination with a slicing knife, of a work holder for material to be sliced movable relative to said knife, said holder comprising a plate having teeth projecting forwardly therefrom and inclined at an oblique angle to said plate to point in the direction of movement of said plate toward said knife and arranged to enter the rear face of material to be sliced, and elongated impalement pins extending in a direction transverse to the plane of the angle of said pins with said plate and arranged to enter a lateral face of said material at points spaced slightly from said rear face and to cooperate with said teeth to hold said material upon said plate.

7. A work holder for slicing machine comprising a plate having slots therein arranged at an agle to one another, teeth projecting through said slots to engage material to be sliced, and means for movlng said teeth in said slots into engagement with said material.

8. A Work holder for slicing machines comprising a plurality of sets of work-engaging teeth, and means for moving the teeth of one set in one direction to cause said teeth to enter said Work and subse quently moving the teeth of another set in a direction at an angle to the movement of said first-mentioned set to cause said secondmentioned set of teeth to enter said work and to cooperate With said first-mentioned set to hold said work in place.

9. In a work holder for slicing machines, a plate having slots therein, a frame positioned in the rear of said plate and having inclined teeth arranged to project through said slots, means for shifting said frame to move said teeth relative to said plate, a sec- 0nd frame having elongated tines thereon supported in a position in front of said plate and extending substantially parallel thereto, and means'for moving said second frame to cause said tines to penetrate the material held by said teeth against the front face of said plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 26th day of February A. D. 1918.

EDWARD M. STILE S.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ZPatents, Washington, D. 0. 

